by Autumn Laws
The line wrapping around the LC was impressive Monday night when Vampire Weekend was scheduled to perform. The audience was clad in tight skinny jeans, flannel, military boots, ill-fitting sweaters, Ray Bans sunglasses, untucked Polo shirts, groomed facial hair, jean jackets… the typical wear of a hipster. This was a concert that Columbus had been waiting years to see, and the crowd was ready to hear the new sounds that Vampire Weekend had been cultivating since their last visit to Columbus.
Vampire Weekend released their third album, “Modern Vampires of the City,” May 14th. Followers of the band had waited over three years since their second album to hear new material from the insanely catchy indie pop band.
The wait, of course, hasn’t been for naught. During the three year hiatus, each member had the opportunity to work on independent projects, including scoring movie soundtracks, working on solo material, and collaborating with other artists. This opportunity to separate allowed each member to bring something new, specific, and individual to the table when they reconvened to begin writing their third album.
Besides the inclusion of new musical technology, such as vocal pitch shifting and the speeding up and slowing down of recorded drum and vocal tracks, the album’s lyrics deal with much more advanced subject matter than Vampire Weekend’s previous two albums. One of the major themes throughout the album is religion, and often the vocals appear to be speaking to God in a personal way.
The singer asks how He could love those who don’t love Him in “Ya Hey” and reflects on the past relationship a society has had with God in “Worship You.” The lyrics also present a speaker who wonders about his destiny as an “Unbeliever.” The subject of life and impending death is also addressed in several tracks of “Modern Vampires of the City,” including “Diane Young” and “Don’t Lie.” These themes may have been present in previous Vampire Weekend tracks, but not until their past and present work are put side-by-side do the listeners truly see the difference between the tones of the casualness of the old lyrics and the gravity of the new lyrics.
After the androgynous Sky Ferreira performed a few fast-tempo, forgettable foot-tappers, the crowd got antsy to hear some long-anticipated Vampire Weekend. After what seemed ages, the band arrived onto a smoky stage cornered by four Corinthian pillars back dropped with a black and pink floral design and a Victorian-style mirror which also doubled as a screen. Vampire Weekend started off their set with the upbeat and recognizable track “Cousins” from their sophomore album. Within seconds, the crowd forgot about the hour-long sound check they were forced to wait through and danced and sang along with the intensely addicting band.
Vampire Weekend cleverly wove old songs in with the tracks from their new album, but it was obvious that the older pieces had lost their charm for the band a long time ago. While the audience devoured popular tracks from their old albums, such as “Giving Up the Gun” and “A-Punk,” the true soul of the show laid in the poignant performances of “Hannah Hunt” and “Ya Hey.”
Despite the band’s obvious preference for their latest work, there was never a dull moment during the Vampire Weekend concert, thanks mostly in part to the fabulous audience participation.
There was hardly any communication from the band to the audience, but there still existed a very personal chemistry with what was happening on-stage and in the crowd. For nearly every song, each band member could be seen expertly perfecting their part, keeping the band totally intertwined, even during the few moments of potential chaos. This was seen especially when the band used the vocal pitch shifting technology singular to their latest album. Each of the members could be seen giving one another subtle visual cues from across the stage to blend the vocals with the technology. This gave the crowd the opportunity to understand what all work went into the track for it to reach its perfection upon recording.
Vampire Weekend ended the night with “Walcott,” an upbeat dance tune from their first album. If the audience wasn’t dancing before, the entire venue was a-hoppin’ from the crowd’s shuffling feet. By the end, the audience had earned their share of Vampire Weekend. They felt what messages Vampire Weekend was trying to convey for each distinct song. The crowd had nothing more to ask of the band and retired without a request of a second encore.
The sounds of that evening were the sounds of a generation. A generation of those who have not faced real difficulties before, but are now beginning to ask questions about the world. A generation that can’t let go of its past, but has a very exciting future ahead of it. A generation of those who have been raised not to ask certain questions but choose to do so anyway. This theme reflects in Vampire Weekend’s music, and it is easy to expect the band to take their questions further. Ideally, the band will mature their sound so that at future shows they won’t need to perform the popular songs from their past albums they have no interest in. Instead, the band will have more mature sounds and lyrics at their disposal in the future. The availability of more thought-provoking material should allow for an increase in personal interest from the band members from beginning to end of shows.
alaws@capital.edu
